When reporters from Entertainment Weekly asked how long he has been planning his departure from the series, Andrew admitted that it’s been on his mind since the 4th season.

Lincoln said that eight seasons sounded like a good number to wrap things up. Andrew recalled the time when he had a “conversation” during the fourth season with Scott Gimple.

According to the small-screen star, he and Scott understood each other, and both had young families to attend to. However, the show was getting bigger and bigger, and they had to figure out some kind of exit strategy at some point.

“And I said, ‘eight sounds like a good number,’ eight seasons was certainly something.” Moreover, he added that maybe it was time for Rick to fall.

However, by the ending of the eighth season, things became even more complicated. When it came time to “organize the funeral,” the actor remarked, he realized that he didn’t even want to say goodbye to the character – or his friends!

And, as it was previously reported, Lincoln admitted that he intended on staying on as a director in the tenth season. During the Comic-Con in 2017, Andrew said to his wife that he wasn’t ready to leave the rest of his friends.

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The star said he had Norman, Danai, Jeffrey, Melissa McBride, and Greg Nicotero, all who he loves working with. However, later on, he finally realized that it was time to leave The Walking Dead as Rick Grimes. “And I think it’s right,” Lincoln remarked.